I thought it was time to say a little about this blog. There’s been some truly amazing activity over the last couple of months, which I mentioned in the Milestones post. The growth of Imagineer-ing is continuing at a most encouraging rate. However, there are some things that make a blog really jump!
Comments
Comments on the posts on a blog can make a big difference. First, they encourage blog authors to continue their efforts. Second, they are an effective way to provide feedback, along with Likes. In fact, the nature of comments can help to shape a blog, indicating what the readers find interesting, fun, informative or boring. Third, comments make a blog appear more alive, encouraging others to follow it and to participate in discussions. So, if you want to say something about what you’ve just read, please do, even if it’s just a quick word or two! The only comments that are unwelcome are spam, trolling, or other incendiary remarks designed to cause trouble.
Ratings
Likes are wonderful! They are truly encouraging. However, you are given the opportunity to indicate how much you like a post, by giving it a star rating of 0 to 5. This information helps, along with comments, to shape a blog. Knowing what readers enjoy makes it easier to choose what posts to make. The rating facility is on the post’s page, not the main blog page.
Sharing
It is always gratifying when a post is shared by a reader! The nature of the share isn’t important. Whether you share via a social network or by reblogging a post, or even pointing to it in a blog post of your own that, perhaps, takes up the subject matter. I realize that Imagineer-ing is guilty of not doing much reblogging and I am working to correct this situation. In common with many, of course, time is part of the problem here, in that maintaining a blog while being busy with other things (writing, in my case) makes it difficult to do as much reading of other blogs as I would like. A big plus of sharing is that it may attract more followers. This isn’t just a benefit to the blog, it can help to bring more material of interest to readers, such as more reviews, guest posts and such.
Contact
There is a facility that allows private contact. I have been very pleased to receive all but one such contact (the odd one was spam!) and fully understand why the private option was chosen. Generally, I receive notifications of most activity almost instantly, unless it gets misdirected into the spam folder, and I do try to respond, where appropriate, as quickly as possible. I would suggest that private contact should really be reserved for requests for reviews, making guest posts and similar applications for support. Of course, if you have a problem with the blog, then the contact system is also the right thing to use.
In Conclusion
I’m not begging! All I wish to do is to encourage more interaction, to help make the blog even better, more interesting and more entertaining. I don’t think this ambition is a bad thing, as it can only enhance your enjoyment of Imagineer-ing.
~ Steve
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